Syria: Gulf Cooperation Council denounces Assad for 'mass slaughter'

Six of the Arab world’s richest countries denounced President Bashar al-Assad
for waging “mass slaughter” on Tuesday, withdrawing their ambassadors from
Damascus and expelling Syria’s envoys from their own capitals.

Sergei Lavrov (left) the Russian foreign minister, claimed that Syria’s regime had agreed to press ahead on the basis of the 'Arab League initiative' yesterdayPhoto: REUTERS

The move by the Gulf Cooperation Council, which includes Saudi Arabia, deepened Syria’s diplomatic isolation. It coincided with decisions by France, Italy and Spain to emulate Britain and withdraw their own ambassadors from Syria for consultations.

The GCC explained there was “no point” in the ambassadors staying “after the Syrian regime rejected all attempts and aborted all honest Arab efforts to solve this crisis and end the bloodshed”.

The Arab League has proposed a peace plan that would involve Mr Assad handing over power to his vice-president. But Syria rejected this blueprint, while the Security Council failed to endorse it on Sunday after vetoes cast by Russia and China.

Sergei Lavrov, the Russian foreign minister, claimed that Syria’s regime had agreed to press ahead on the basis of the “Arab League initiative” yesterday. But the departure of the ambassadors from the Gulf states may eliminate any chance of Arab mediation to end the crisis.

The GCC statement added that its member countries “follow with sorrow and anger the increase in killing and violence in Syria, which has not spared children, old people or women with heinous acts that, at best, can be described as mass slaughter”.

European Union foreign ministers will try to exert more pressure on Syria when they meet on 27 Feb. EU officials have begun work on new economic sanctions that would target Syria’s central bank and ban imports of phosphates, the country’s sixth-biggest export industry.

”New economic measures against the national bank, metals and minerals will significantly hit the regime’s ability to access finance,” said a European diplomat. Officials were preparing this “step change” in sanctions in time for the foreign ministers to consider.

However, the most significant step against Syria’s economy - imposing an embargo on oil exports to the EU - has already been taken. The British National Security Council held what a spokeswoman called a “detailed and lengthy” discussion of Syria on Tuesday, including an assessment of tighter economic sanctions.